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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-12-13 Special Common Council Meeting AgendaOFFICIAL NOTICE OF MEETING A Special meeting of the Common Council will be held on Tuesday, November 12, 2013, at 6:00 p.m. in the Common Council Chambers at City Hall, 108 East Green Street, Ithaca, New York. Your attendance is requested. AGENDA 1. SPECIAL ORDER OF BUSINESS: 1.1 A Public Hearing to Consider the Mayor’s Proposed Executive Budget for 2014 as approved by the Committee of the Whole 1.2 Discussion of proposed amendments to the Mayor's 2014 Budget 1.3 Adoption of 2014 Budget - Resolution 1.4 Adoption of 2014 Tax Rate - Resolution 1.5 Adoption of 2014 Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Plant Budget - Resolution 1.6 A Local Law entitled the “City of Ithaca Local Law to Consolidate the Department of Information Technology In to the Department of the City Clerk.” 1.7 A Local Law Entitled the “City of Ithaca Local Law to Eliminate the Position of Director of Information Technology.” 2. NEW BUSINESS: 3. ADJOURNMENT: If you have a disability that will require special arrangements to be made in order for you to fully participate in the meeting, please contact the City Clerk at 274-6570 at least 48 hours before the meeting. ______________________________ Julie Conley Holcomb, CMC City Clerk Date: November 7, 2013 1. SPECIAL ORDER OF BUSINESS: 1.3 Adoption of 2014 Budget - Resolution WHEREAS, this Common Council is now considering adoption of the Amended Executive Budget for 2014 as approved by the Committee of the Whole, and WHEREAS, it is the consensus of this Common Council that the total appropriations and estimated revenues, as set forth in said Amended Executive Budget for 2014, and as those amounts may be altered by action of this Common Council at its November 12, 2013 meeting, are adequate for the operation of the City during 2014; now, therefore be it RESOLVED, That this Common Council accepts and approves said Amended Executive Budget for 2014, together with any additional changes made in said budget at Council's November 12, 2013 meeting as the City of Ithaca Budget for 2014, in the total amount of $64,542,735, and be it further RESOLVED, That the following sections of the 2014 Budget be approved: A) General Fund Appropriations B) Water Fund Appropriations C) Sewer Fund Appropriations D) Solid Waste Fund Appropriations E) Sidewalk Special District Fund Appropriations F) General Fund Revenues G) Water Fund Revenues H) Sewer Fund Revenues I) Solid Waste Fund Revenues J) Sidewalk Special District Fund Revenue K) Debt Retirement Schedule L) Capital Projects M) Schedule of Salaries and Positions - General Fund N) Schedule of Salaries and Positions - Water & Sewer Fund O) Schedule of Salaries and Positions – Sidewalk Special District Fund P) Schedule of Salaries and Positions - Solid Waste Fund Q) Authorized Equipment - General Fund R) Authorized Equipment - Water Fund R) Authorized Equipment - Sewer Fund S) Authorized Equipment - Solid Waste Fund T) Authorized Equipment – Sidewalk Special District Fund Balance 1.4 Adoption of 2014 Tax Rate – Resolution WHEREAS, the 2014 City of Ithaca Budget was approved, adopted, and confirmed in the total amount of $64,542,735 on November 12, 2013, in accordance with a detailed Budget on file in the Office of the City Controller, and WHEREAS, available and estimated revenues total $44,022,631 leaving $20,520,104 as the amount to be raised by taxation, and WHEREAS, the Assessment Roll for 2014 certified and filed by the Assessment Department of Tompkins County, has been footed and approved and shows the total net taxable valuation as $1,564,032,345 and WHEREAS, under Charter provisions, the tax limit for City purposes amounts to $30,344,794 for 2014; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the tax rate for general purposes, for the fiscal year 2014, be, and the same hereby is, established and fixed at $13.12 per $1,000 of taxable valuation as shown, certified and extended against the respective properties on the 2014, Tax Roll, thereby making a total tax levy, as near as may be, of $20,520,104, and be it further RESOLVED, That the amount of said tax levy be spread, and the same hereby is levied upon and against the respective properties as shown on said City Tax Roll, in accordance with their respective net taxable valuation, at the rate of $13.12 per $1,000 of such taxable valuation, and be it further RESOLVED, That the City Chamberlain be, and hereby is, directed to extend and apportion the City Tax as above, and that upon the completion of the extension of said Roll, the City Clerk shall prepare a warrant on the City Chamberlain for the collection of said levy; and the Mayor and the City Clerk hereby are authorized and directed to sign and affix the corporate seal to such warrant and forthwith to file the same with said Tax Roll with the City Chamberlain, and be it further RESOLVED, That upon the execution and filing of said warrant and Tax Roll with the City Chamberlain, the amounts of the City Tax set opposite each and every property shall hereby become liens, due, payable and collectible in accordance with provisions of the City Charter and other laws applicable thereto, and be it further RESOLVED, That the total sum of $64,542,735 be appropriated in accordance with the adopted Budget to the respective Boards, Offices, and Departments of the City, for the purposes respectively set forth therein. The 2014 Assessment Roll has been completed and approved by the Assessment Department of Tompkins County and resulted in the following valuation: Total Value of Real Property $3,989,560,804 Less: Value of Exempt Property $2,451,911,000 $1,537,649,804 Plus: Value of Special Franchises $26,382,541 Net Value of Taxable Property $1,564,032,345 1.5 Adoption of 2014 Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Plant Budget - Resolution WHEREAS, this Common Council is now considering adoption of the Amended Joint Activity Fund Budget for 2014 as approved by the Committee of the Whole, and WHEREAS, it is the consensus of this Common Council that the total appropriations and estimated revenues, as set forth in said Amended Joint Activity Fund Budget for 2014 and as those amounts may be altered by action of the Common Council at its November 12, 2013 meeting, are adequate for the operation of the Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Plant during 2014; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That this Common Council accepts and approves said Amended Joint Activity Fund Budget for 2014, together with any additional changes made in said budget at Council’s November 12, 2013 meeting, as the Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Plant Joint Activity Fund Budget for 2014, in the total amount of $3,831,462, and be it further RESOLVED, That the following sections of the 2014 Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Plant Joint Activity Fund Budget be approved: A) Joint Activity Fund Appropriations B) Joint Activity Fund Revenues C) Schedule of Salaries and Positions – Joint Activity Fund D) Authorized Equipment – Joint Activity Fund 1.6 A Local Law entitled the “City of Ithaca Local Law to Consolidate the Department of Information Technology Into the Department of the City Clerk.” Local Law No. 6 - 2013 WHEREAS, the intent of the following legislation is to reduce the costs and increase the efficiency of the City’s government in light of record budget deficits, and WHEREAS, New York State has granted to the City the power to organize its own government and the departments therein as the City deems necessary, and WHEREAS, the Common Council has determined that certain operations of the City’s government could efficiently be consolidated and overseen by a single department head rather than by multiple separate departments, and WHEREAS, the Department of Information Technology only came into existence late in the City’s long history, and at a time that technology was distinct from the information generated and stored by that technology, and WHEREAS, today information and the technology on which it is generated and stored have so far converged as to be virtually indistinguishable in many situations, and WHEREAS, the Department of the City Clerk has long been the repository for the storage and retrieval of information vital to the City, and is well equipped, with the assistance of appropriate staff of the Department of Information Technology, to handle the informational affairs of the City both as a matter of technology and substance, BE IT ENACTED BY the Common Council of the City of Ithaca as follows: Section 1. Legislative Intent and Purpose. The Common Council of the City of Ithaca determines that it is in the interest of the public welfare to consolidate the Department of Information Technology into the Department of the City Clerk, thus forming the Department of Public Information and Technology. In the resulting Department, the Director of Information Technology and all appropriate staff of the former Department of Information Technology shall hereafter report to the City Clerk as members of the Department of Public Information and Technology. Subject only to the requirement that the position of Director of Information Technology report to the City Clerk, the Director of Information Technology shall retain all powers, duties, and functions otherwise possessed by the Director of Information Technology unless explicitly altered herein. The intent and purpose of this local law is compatible with a subsequent elimination from the Charter of the position of Director of Information Technology via separate local law, if any. Section 2. Appointive Officers Not Serving In Their Respective Department. The text of Section C-5(C)(4), a subsection of “Elective and Appointive Officers”, as currently contained in the Ithaca City Charter, and last ratified by Local Laws Nos. 3 and 4 of 2012, is hereby repealed and replaced with the following text: (a) Officers who serve as the heads of their respective departments, and who are appointed by the Mayor with the approval of Common Council: City Clerk, Controller, Director of Human Resources[, Director of Information Technology], Director of Planning and Development, Fire Chief, Greater Ithaca Activities Center Director, Police Chief, Superintendent of Public Works, Youth Bureau Director. (b) Officers who are appointed by the Mayor with the approval of Common Council to a specific department: City Chamberlain as appointed to the Office of the City Controller; Building Commissioner as appointed to the Department of Planning, Building, and Development; Director of Information Technology as appointed to the Department of Public Information and Technology. Section 3. Consolidated Department of Public Information and Technology. A. There shall be a Department of [the City Clerk] Public Information and Technology, the head of which shall be the City Clerk. B. The City Clerk shall: (1) Perform the functions and discharge the powers and duties of the City Clerk pursuant to law. (2) Act as Clerk for the Board of Public Works and the Common Council and keep a journal of their proceedings and a record of the minutes of every meeting. The minutes of each meeting shall be signed by the officer presiding at such meeting and by the Clerk. (3) Keep and maintain the original authenticated copies of all resolutions, ordinances and local laws. At the close of each year, the Clerk, with the advice and assistance of the City Attorney, shall compile or codify and bind all local laws, ordinances and resolutions, or true copies thereof, in books to be provided for that purpose. The City Clerk shall properly index such books, compilation or codification. The record so made, or a copy thereof, duly certified by the City Clerk, shall be presumptive evidence in all courts and places and in all actions and proceedings of the due and proper passage and publication of any such local law, ordinance or resolution. (4) Issue licenses and permits authorized to be issued by the City Clerk under authority of the Council or by a City Clerk pursuant to law. (5) Manage and execute all information technology functions of the City Government, including systems of written and spoken communication, archiving and retrieval, and all software and hardware components necessary thereto. (6[5]) Organize the work of the Department of Public Information and Technology[the City Clerk]. The City Clerk may assign and transfer administrative functions, powers and duties within the Department of Public Information and Technology[office of the City Clerk] as the best interest of the City may appear, subject to the Charter, local law or ordinance. (7[6]) Have such other powers and duties as may be prescribed by the Charter, local law or ordinance. Section 4. Effect of Related Local Laws. This local law, including the replacement text provided in Section 2 hereof, shall be read in concert with, and solely to the extent in conflict with, shall be superseded by, one or more local laws that become operative after this local law is adopted, including but not limited to any City of Ithaca Local Law to Eliminate the Position of Director of Information Technology. Section 5. Severability. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or part of this local law shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder thereof but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered. Section 6. Effective Date. This Local Law shall take effect on January 1, 2014 after filing in the office of the Secretary of State. 1.7 A Local Law Entitled the “City of Ithaca Local Law to Eliminate the Position of Director of Information Technology.” Local Law No. 7 - 2013 WHEREAS, New York State has granted to the City the power to organize its own government and departments therein as the City deems necessary, and WHEREAS, the City continues to run a budgetary deficit, and to search for ways to reduce costs while minimizing the effect on the services provided to the public if possible, and WHEREAS, the Director of Information Technology position was created as a forty-hour per week position in the year 1999 and filled in 2000, and WHEREAS, the budget for Fiscal Year 2013 reduced the Director of Information Technology position to a thirty-two hour per week position with a concomitant reduction in salary, and there was no impairment in the City’s information technology systems or functions, and WHEREAS, the Common Council has adopted a budget for Fiscal Year 2014 that eliminates funding for the Director of Information Technology position, and WHEREAS, the Common Council has approved prior to the approval of this Local Law a separate Local Law enacting the consolidation of the Department of Information Technology into the Department of the City Clerk, thus forming the Department of Public Information and Technology, and WHEREAS, employees in the Department of Information Technology and Department of the City Clerk are well-equipped to handle as necessary the duties currently performed by the Director of Information Technology, BE IT ENACTED by the Common Council of the City of Ithaca as follows: Section 1. Legislative Findings, Intent, and Purpose. Despite the City’s continuing efforts to increase efficiency and reduce spending, the City Controller projects that the 2014 Fiscal Year budget will run at a $1.4 million deficit. Minimizing the need for increasing taxes requires that the City continue to carefully and critically review the services it provides, and the manner in which the services are provided. As part of this process, and after a review of the duties assigned to the Director of Information Technology, in Fiscal Year 2013 the City reduced the hours of that position to thirty-two (32) per week, with a corresponding decrease in compensation. In addition, certain functions were relocated from Information Technology into the Department of the City Clerk. After reviewing the performance of the departments during Fiscal Year 2013, and further considering the responsibilities and duties assigned to the Director of Information Technology position, the Common Council has approved a budget for Fiscal Year 2014 that eliminates funding for the position. Further, the Common Council determines that, for reasons of economy, consolidation or abolition of functions, and curtailment of activities, it is in the interest of the public welfare to eliminate the Director of Information Technology position. To the extent that the duties currently assigned to that position are still needed, the remaining Information Technology and City Clerk’s Office employees are capable of discharging such duties. Accordingly, it is the desire of the Common Council that the position of the Director of Information Technology cease to exist, and all powers, duties, and functions otherwise possessed by the Director of Information Technology shall be transferred or eliminated by the Mayor, Director of Human Resources, City Clerk, and Civil Service Commission as appropriate. Section 2. Appointive Officers Not Serving In Their Respective Department. The text of Section C-5(C)(4)(b) in the Ithaca City Charter, a subsection of “Elective and Appointive Officers”, as to be amended upon the adoption and effectiveness of Local Law No. 6 of 2013 entitled “City of Ithaca Local Law to Consolidate Department of Information Technology Into the Department of the City Clerk” is hereby further amended as follows, superseding said Local Law to the extent set out in Section 3 hereof: (b) Officers who are appointed by the Mayor with the approval of Common Council to a specific department: City Chamberlain as appointed to the Office of the City Controller; Building Commissioner as appointed to the Department of Planning, Building, and Development; Director of Information Technology as appointed to the Department of Public Information and Technology. Section 3. Effect of Related Local Laws. Section 2 of this local law shall supersede any provision amending Section C-5(C)(4)(b) of any local law adopted prior to this local law becoming operative, to the extent that such provision is in conflict with Section 2. In all other respects, this local law shall to the extent possible be read in concert with any such local law. A City of Ithaca Local Law to Consolidate the Department of Information Technology Into the Department of the City Clerk is such a local law. Section 4. Severability. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or part of this Local Law shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered. Section 5. Mandatory Referendum and Effective Date. This Local Law shall be submitted to a referendum at the next feasible general election. This Local Law shall take effect after it is approved by the electorate and is subsequently filed in the office of the Secretary of State.